The culture of Chinese characters has long historical roots a nd profound meanings; it fosters China’s ancientcivilization and advances the cultural evolvement of it. Kaishu (a formal script of Chinese characters), in the entirehistory of Chinese characters, enjoys an irreplaceable status and holds significant meanings: it embodies theChinese humanistic spirits and demonstrates an understanding and representation of beauty.

News

Central Academy of Fine Arts recognised by BUSINESSWEEK
China's Central Academy of Fine Arts (CAFA), host organiser of Xin: Icograda World Design Congress 2009, has been recognised by BusinessWeek in its annual ranking of the world's best design schools... Read More

Education Conference

Pre-Congress Workshops

Online registration is also open for the pre-Congress workshops. These will take place on 19-24 October 2009 in a dozen cities around China. International designers, design educators and design students are welcome to participate in this cultural experience.

- Follow us on Twitter. We're using #beijing2009 to tag tweets related to the Congress.

Official Icograda WDC 2009 Blog

Introducing the official blog for Xin: Icograda World Design Congress (WDC) Beijing 2009. Devoted to behind-the-scenes information about the Congress, the blog will act as a place of commentary and exchange, and aims to serve up a delectable (design) appetite, all in anticipation of this year’s event.

Chinese Graphic Design in the 20th Century: A Documentary

Chinese Graphic Design in the 20th Century showcases design objects such as Chinese posters, magazines and newspapers from the 20th century, and other graphic design-related objects, individual profiles and relevant documents.

Selected Exhibitions

Greengaged
The organizing committee of Icograda World Design Congress 2009 Beijing and the 1st Beijing Design Week is glad to announce the Greengaged-China sustainable design events, a collaboration between Central Academy of Fine Arts (CAFA), British Council (China), Design for Social Innovation and Sustainability Network China (DESIS-China) and Greengaged (UK), as part of the congress in October 2009. This series of events include a pre-conference workshop, presentations at the professional conference and an exhibition.

Graphex the Best of Visual Communications in Canada
Graphex the Best of Visual Communications in Canada features winning entries of Graphex 2008 and will be staged in Beijing during the Icograda World Design Congress 2009 at the Gallery of the Academy of Arts & Design, Tsinghua University

Call for Creative Design

The organisers of the Icograda World Design Congress Beijing 2009 are pleased to announce the call for Creative Design: Impressions of China National Centre for the Performing Arts. MORE...

Marketing Development

Keynote Speakers

Mr. Long Yongtu, Secretary-General of Boao Forum for Asia has been announced as a keynote speaker for Xin: Icograda World Design Congress 2009 in Beijing. His speech will be part of the Opening Ceremony protocols on the 26 October.

Born in Zhejiang, China in 1947, Pan Gongkai is both a renowned painter and an art historian. As a painter, Pan Gongkai has held solo exhibitions in New York, Paris, Hong Kong, as well as other parts of the world. He is the current president of China Central Academy of Fine Arts (CAFA) in Beijing, China.

Sol Sender (US)

While a principal of the design agency Sender LLC, Sol Sender directed a team of designers that created the Obama campaign logo, laying the foundation for a transformative design strategy that powerfully supported a message of hope and change.

Kohei Sugiura (Japan)

Japanese graphic designer Kohei Sugiura specialises in posters, calendars, record covers, catalogues and stamps and later books, magazines, exhibitions, film and television graphics. He is regarded as one of Japan’s most innovative designers; Hollywood, Buddhism, Space Age, quotations and typography influence his work.

Jan van Toorn (the Netherlands)

Jan van Toorn is one of the most significant and influential Dutch graphic designers to have emerged since the early 1960s. The emotional charge in his designs stem from his interest in investigating visual meaning. His work, poses a challenge to visual communication that is relevant today.

Patrick Whitney (US)

Professor Whitney is Dean of the Institute of Design, Illinois Institute of Technology. He has published and lectured throughout the world about how to make technological innovations more humane, the link between design and business strategy, and methods of designing interactive communications. He was chairman of the ICOGRADA Conference in 1978.

Peter Isaacson is the Vice President of Worldwide Education for Adobe Systems. Isaacson oversees a team of business and marketing professionals focusing on K-12 and Higher Education, as well as curriculum, certification and professional development.